


Cold War Kids

by another_crack_in_time_and_space



Series: Dragon Age Drabbles [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: 90's AU, Character Study, Dragon Age Inquisition, M/M, Mage Templar War, Modern AU, Modern Thedas, Sort of a kissing but more of a sad, Tevinter, Underage Drinking, Venatori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-03 05:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6599293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/another_crack_in_time_and_space/pseuds/another_crack_in_time_and_space
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felix snuck over again, his father's increased obsession with the war causing stress in the house. The only sound in that moment were paired breaths, and then the radio crackled awake.<br/>Felix and Dorian finding shelter in a small room somewhere while their country attempts war, watching with fearful eyes and defeated smiles. Set somewhere in the 90's probably.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold War Kids

Dorian had never seen this room at dawn. Either due to absence or sleep, the way the purple dawn crept through was entirely new. It wasn't his by any stretch, just a place he maintained that he like to stay in when he went out drinking. Thusly no electricity, and no heat. The quilt he had wound around himself smelled of dust and mold, but he was here with Felix. Besides the sound of the road outside they were silent, just their breaths making noise. Felix had been messing with the battery radio in his hands for nearly twenty minutes now and all Dorian wanted to do was set aside the radio and sleep. 

Felix has snuck out again, joining Dorian in the hovel. His father was growing more and more passionate for the Venatori cause, assuring him that it would make Tevinter a better place. His house was over run with salons and campaign meetings. It all felt...bad to Felix. Something was happening but he didn't get what, or didn't know what it was quite yet. He knew it was all going to go ass over tit and had tried to dissuade Gareon. This yielded no effect and much fighting. Dorian understood Felix's anger, as he knew the feeling in his own heart. Once Dorian had been Alexius' top pupil, shining in his magical studies, and out performing nearly anyone Gareon had ever come across. Now Dorian was shoved aside for a nationalist plot that was draining and distancing his best friend. 

The radio snapped to life between them, and woke Dorian from his dozing, as it cackled "Join the new age. Rise up with your Venatori brothers and sisters. It's on us all to make Tevinter great again." There was a pause for the national anthem and enlistment locations around the city. Felix's breath hitched as the announcer spat his address. His hand tangled in the rosary he kept around his neck, and Dorian's jaw set. He wished he could just wave it away but this was something much larger than he could ignore. They waited for the shuffle of the hosts microphone signalling an end to the commercial break. 

"You heard it here first, like always on MCT. Up next is 'We Just Want To Watch The World Burn', the fire mix tape from the Magisterium." The host laughs uproariously at his own comment, though both Dorian and Felix paled, knowing his life was already precariously on the edge of reclamation. "No, I'm just kidding guys. Who doesn't get warm and fuzzy over nationalism? Our next song is a golden oldie from The Smiths, 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'." There was a tense silence as the song started before Felix spoke. 

"How much do you think he hates his job?" He laughed, though his paleness scarcely put his companion at ease. "He might even hate it more than you do." Dorian half heartedly chuckled, and turned his face to the one window in the room. 

"I doubt that. My cynicism is world renowned." Dorian flexed an eyebrow, and turned back to Felix making funny faces in the dark. Felix nudged him with his shoulder. 

"How can something be world renowned that has never left the city?" Felix shot back, leaning his head back against the wall and shutting his eyes. He looked exhausted. Dark bruises had spread under his eyes and seemed to bleed into the hollows of his gaunt cheeks. His pulse fluttered in the base of his neck, a quick thing. Felix was almost entirely still. He appeared dead if it wasn't for the rise of his chest and the warmth to his body. 

"Ask the Venatori," Dorian replied ruefully, tearing his eyes from Felix and reaching under the bed they perched on for alcohol. He grimaced at the selection and his distasteful joke as the song ended. Felix didn't respond but accepted the spiced rum, frowning at it. The next song started before Felix sipped from the bottle and handed it back to Dorian, but not before brushing Dorian's hood away from his neck, exposing bruises. 

"You slept with him again, didn't you?" Dorian shrugged, and drank. "You know he can't actually be a Rivani trader right? Tevinter is land locked. There's no-" 

"I've quite puzzled it out, thank you," He responded curtly. "A trader would know how to tie knots." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as Felix mimed vomiting. 

"I don't need to know, Dori! I don't go telling you about my sex life." Dorian smirked. 

"Was there one to speak of? I was unaware." 

"Oh, drop it you twat." They fell into a gentle silence. Another song came on, this singer gravelly and romantic. It distracted them for a time, but with silence came the reminder of war. No one dared say the word on the streets. Speaking of it was like a dumb dinner, and only invited ghosts. It rang around in their heads though, and was a torture they detested. Even the Maker could barely sooth Felix's nerves. Dorian had let faith slip out of his hands, finding his solace mostly in fact and suggestion but all the odds looked bad. 

"MCT, coming at you hot. That last song was an old friend, Emily and the Woods with 'Never Play'. How are you doing folks? Tensions running high? Morals getting thrown to the wind? Mine too. Do something about it, friends and join with...do I really have to say it? Next up is 'Beautiful Crime' by Tamer." 

Felix pulled the bottle toward him, drank deep from it and smashed the now empty bottle against the wall opposite them. 

"Fuck this." He spat, red blotches burning the back of his neck. "Fuck this shit. It's going to kill him, it's probably going to kill us too. I'm so sick of it. I just need to get out." He stood from the bed, and began pacing. "We could go south. We could run. You and me, Dorian. Right now." Dorian was speechless, watching him practically claw up the walls. He didn't dare respond, but stood as well, letting the blanket fall off him. Dorian crossed to him, taking a hand in his and soothing out the wrinkles in his face. 

"We couldn't. Tevinter is our home. We have to...stay. Stay and protest, or at least keep your father from doing something irreparably stupid. Isn't that what he's saying? Do something about it." Felix sneered, but the fear in his eyes was almost tangible. 

"What if I can't stay? What if I can't watch him expend his energy to turn this world inside out? We both know my time is precious as it is. I just..." Now he was practically clinging to Dorian. "Fuck." Dorian staggered them back to the bed, and wrapped Felix up, leaning him against his chest. Exhaustion ate at his body and what little alcohol he had didn't help. It seemed like hours before Felix sat up, turning his face to Dorian's and laying a kiss on his cheek. Sparks rang behind Dorian's eyes but he shoved it away. They'd already danced this particular dance, and impending doom was enough to handle. 

"Felix, I know what you think you're doing is a good idea," He pulled back to avoid another kiss. "But this is not going to go the way you think it will." Felix grumbled at that, lacing his fingers with Dorian but giving up the game for a little bit. He only wanted the bad feelings to go away and Dorian more than understood that. 

"I can't stay, I can't go, I can't do anything..." He sighed. "Can we sleep here? I don't want to walk home." Dorian looked around the run down room and shrugged. 

"Do what you want. I'll go with you." Felix curled a freehand in the hoodie Dorian had on and shut his eyes. Purple light had all but completely taken over and the announcer was still going. A quiet theme of war drums played in the background as the announcer spoke. 

"Go fight for us, Tevinter. Keep our dream alive." He finished. Dorian was only half sure he was still talking about the Venatori. He smoothed down the hair on Felix's head when the ground began to shake. With a start Felix sat up, and they both darted to the window. A brilliant flash of green and a deafening clap nearly knocked them back, rattling their teeth.

"By the Maker," Felix gasped. Dorian set his jaw and looked at his friend, nearly shaking apart in the green light that washed over him. 

"Let's go," Dorian had to shout over the echos of the blast. "We have to go do something about it." 

"Like what, that's a fucking hole in the sky!" 

"Like war, Felix. Fight the Venatori, close the sky, save the world." 

They only needed to share a look before they grabbed their stuff and burst onto the roads which were filling quickly. They were going to stop it, and they would do it together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!


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